As clear as the waters of the Liffey…

There’s been a bit of confusion over the massive public sculpture project by Antony Gormley intended for the Dublin Docklands. On the 16th of January the Irish Times ran a story announcing the approval of planning permission for the work by Dublin City Council, only to be followed the next day with news of the project being scrapped due to budget reasons.

eh?

Yesterday’s Sunday Times has refuted the refutation, quoting the sculptor and DDDA arts manager Mary McCarthy as stating the project is still ‘full steam ahead’. The €1.6 million sculpture, nearly always mentioned with reference to its height (‘almost as tall as the Statue of Liberty’, ‘nearly as high as Liberty Hall’, ‘bigger than Rio’s Christ the Redeemer’) apparently may be started as early as the summer, though the DDDA website lists a project completion date of 2012.

Here’s looking forward to the inevitable bestowing of the Dub nickname… the Jock in the Dock? Stud in the Mud? Any suggestions welcome…